Disastrous service at the passport control (and luggage serrvice).
I would like to take the opportunity with the fact that during my recent travelling to the USA, it was a nightmare regarding the Passport control and the luggage service at the Newark Liberty International Airport and the Washington Dulles International Airport.
Find below my disastrous experiences of their Passport controls for both airports and luggage service for Newark Airport.
I had during my flight back from Panama to Belgium (Europe) a connecting/transit flight at the Newark Airport on August 22th 2023.
My plane arrived at 3:37 pm at the Airport of Newark and thus for connecting flights I had to pass the passport control counter, which I already did in Panama, and thereafter to take my luggage which was on the belt and deliver it to another luggage counter for deposit and I had to go again through the security gate as in Panama… (BTW, Does it make sense to recheck these lugages as they were stored in cargo hold from the Panama plane and with no human interaction…?)
When leaving the plane, I arrived at the lane to register for the passport control. I got at the same time a text message from United Airlines announcing ‘ Flight UA999 to Brussels departs from Gate C123 at 6:35 pm. It takes about 79 minute(s) to get to Gate C123’…
I checked on the screen at the entrance of the lanes about the waiting time and there was no information but there were about 10 lanes in total to go through to reach the passport counter, each lane with a distance of around 100 meters full of passengers.
I started waiting in the queue at 4:02 p.m. and it took about 65 minutes to go through only 3 lanes, so it was already 5:07 pm.!!! BTW, knowing that the boarding of my next plane was at 5:45 pm., i was sure to miss my connecting flight but i was patient and staid in the lane, and it took 30 min. to do 1,5 additional lanes, it was 5:37 pm. So I had still 5,5 lanes to go, so I had a plan B and I spoke to an officer, Mrs. Perrazi and she said that she had no importance about our waiting time and she didn’t take care about the fact that I/we would miss my/our next plane. I asked her if there was a Fastlane and also no reply from her on my request... So, finally I had no choice and due to necessity for catching my next plane, I was able to jump 5 lanes… I asked to Mrs. Perrazi to speak with her manager and she answered that there was nobody and that I should send my complaint to the USA government with a broad laugh… We were astonished about her way of treating the passengers that way and no help, neither support from her... to help embarrassed people who will miss their connecting flight.
Finally, I went to the passport control and the men on the counter asked me where I was going and I replied ‘desperately going home’ and he stamped my passport.
Next step, I had to collect my checked-in luggage. I came to the right luggage belt station and asked a (lady) supervisor if the luggages coming from the Panama flight were already on the belt and informed her that I couldn’t find my luggage… She answered me on an impolite tone that I stayed probably too long in the duty free area. Again, I was astonished how the passengers are treated here in the USA...